General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Sue W. on September 30, 2009, 06:13:10 AM
Title: What do you think?
Post by: Sue W. on September 30, 2009, 06:13:10 AM
How do Fairfax residents feel about the possibility of Georgia designating BFA Fairfax as their high school of choice?
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: Henry on September 30, 2009, 06:39:41 AM
An increase of 292 Students - I think not - This would certainly require some changes and most likely end up increasing our tax rate
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: edakrupp on September 30, 2009, 07:01:38 AM
They had a special meeting last night was anyone able to go? Are these new influx of students paying Tuition? If so, is it enough income to cover new teacers and supports needed to handle it? Presently I think we already get a large percentage of their students, how many do they have going to St. Albans, Essex, or Burlington?
I read act. 44 (It passed the House and the Senate)which bundles a bunch of educational issues into one bill- towards the end of the bill they do hint about consolidating schools- A great way to save money from the state side of things.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: trussell on September 30, 2009, 07:21:53 AM
In an article I read, I believe the Principal (maybe Superintendent? I can't remember) said that the High School has enough capacity to handle the students from Georgia. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think a majority of them go to St.Albans at a much higher rate. I'm sure more teachers would need to be hired, but it sounds like the school can physically house that many.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: Rev. Elizabeth on September 30, 2009, 08:12:27 AM
There is an article about this meeting in today's Free Press. The general sense of the meeting seems to be that the people of Georgia wish to keep school choice.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: Henry on September 30, 2009, 08:36:34 AM
I personally am very thankful that back when I went to High School between 1945 and 1951 that there was school choice available. If there had not been, I probably would not have been able to attend. My first year of High School, I stayed with my grandmother over in Alburg and went to High School there. In my sophomore year I started in St. Albans and went to St. Mary's, a parochial school. The town paid the tuition, but my parents had to pay room & board for me of $10 for 5 days a week. That may not seem like a lot, but it was a real financial burden for my parents. I ended up quitting in my Sophomore Year mid way through, but did go back and finally graduated in 1951. This was not a case where I could travel to another town each day back in those days as things were different. We were able to work out something without a requirement to go to a certain town.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: trussell on September 30, 2009, 08:43:18 AM
Thanks, eda- Those were the stats I was trying to remember- I guess I was way off!
I don't think adding more students is necessarily good or bad- it could go either way- I just hope that (1) the administration thinks this through sufficiently (and sets the tuition rate appropriately) before making Fairfax an option to Georgia and (2) no one's education/opportunities suffer because of the additional headcount.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: edakrupp on September 30, 2009, 10:34:29 AM
Limiting peoples choice is generally a bad thing, and is usually the last thing govenment inacts when there are no other choices. I hope that what ever legislation there is on the table, that will help save money, doesn't result in limiting peoples free choice.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: 7F30 on September 30, 2009, 10:54:37 AM
Trevor you weren't far off, if you read the Free Press. They have it as 167 go to ST. Albans, and 39 going to Fairfax.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: Henry on September 30, 2009, 11:05:07 AM
Lots of school activities and suspect it makes a big difference if you live near Milton, Fairfax or St. Albans as to your choice of schools.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: Henry on September 30, 2009, 01:10:02 PM
Leon Thompson has a write-up in today's St. Albans Messenger:
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: edakrupp on September 30, 2009, 01:11:51 PM
Trevor, my bad, I got my BFA's reversed. Looks like it would have a HUGE impact on our school. Are there any benefits for us?
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: dearon on September 30, 2009, 02:47:57 PM
In speaking to the Georgia towns people, I find that the majority of them of quite upset with this. At least those with children. They like having the flexibility of choosing where their child goes. If they work in the Burlington/Essex area that sometimes influences their decision on Essex or So. Burlington schools. I find that a good deal of them like the idea of BFA St. Albans as all the students coming there are from different towns therefore are in the same boat. When I lived in Georgia, I lived there because of school choice and to take that away is not right. I think the child should be matched with the school, not all children thrive based on what town you happen to live in. I sent mine to 3 differnet high schools based on their personality types. I had one that went to Fairfax and loved it, the others hated it and went elsewhere. If a town can't afford to build and maintain a high school then students and their parents should have a choice of where it go, it it involves a ceiling on the spending amount then so be it. I know of a few parents in the past that sent their children to private schools and that was quite expensive and unfair for the town.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: trussell on September 30, 2009, 02:55:11 PM
Quote
I know of a few parents in the past that sent their children to private schools and that was quite expensive and unfair for the town.
I believe there IS a cap, set by each town no what they will spend for pupil. Growing up in the Town of Essex, I was able to choose which school I went to, but the town would only subsidize up to whatever Essex Jct High School was charging. I had a friend that utilized that and went to a boarding school in NH and his parents only had to pay the difference... A few others went to Rice and I think their tuition was lower.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: JKandBoys on September 30, 2009, 03:24:27 PM
I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that if Georgia designated Fairfax as the High School of choice, the tuition would be capped at whatever Fairfax chose to charge. In other words, Georgia parents would still have school choice but they would have to make up the tuition difference if they chose a school with a tuition charge that exceeds that of the designated school.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: dearon on September 30, 2009, 04:27:42 PM
I copied this from the article in the Free press, if Georgia designiates one school, there is an appeal process for the parent to follow. Under Act 44, which passed in the state legislature last spring, elementary school districts without designated public high schools can now choose one for their students. Bellows Free Academy-Fairfax (BFA) is a possibility for Georgia.
Even if a single high school is designated, Georgia parents would have the option of appealing to the school board for permission to send their children elsewhere, under Act 44.
However, the school district would only be obligated to pay the amount of tuition paid at the designated school, or the statewide average tuition, whichever is lower. Parents would be obligated to pick up any tuition difference.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: Loctavious on October 01, 2009, 02:01:02 PM
I can see soem positives and negatives right off :
Negative - our ALREADY TAXED FOR SPACE Sports teams and other community activities ( success by six, soccer, Youth AND HS BASKETBALL) would certainyl suffer greatly under that sort of influx... UNLESS.....
Positive - A new Multi-purpose Building :):):)
If no physical upgrades are made to shelter, educate and feed anywhere from 100-250 additional students i can't see this as a good idea - yeah a way to save money but, i can't se how it woudl improve anything with education in the process - making a strictly money-motivated decision. Those sorts of decisions always seem to have a risk involved.
Title: Re: What do you think?
Post by: Chris Santee on October 01, 2009, 06:24:50 PM
I was at the meeting Tuesday night (www.FranklinOne.com). 500+ people packed the gym. Cars were on Route 7. The people of Georgia stood united in red behind their freedom of choice. Red is GEMS school color.
A letter read on Carolyn Branagan's behalf received thunderous applause. The text follows:
Dear Friends,
Since I am unable to attend tonight's meeting, my friend and neighbor Dan Harvey has agreed to read this statement for me.
First, I'd like to commend the school board for thinking about ways to cut school costs. I hear all the time from taxpayers in our town who tell me they are having trouble paying their property taxes. This is especially true for elderly members of our community who are on fixed incomes and reside on properties they have owned for a long time. All possibilities for cutting school costs should be on the table. School property tax rates are largely based on expenditurees at the local level and the school budget is voted upon locally. Control of local costs absolutely needs to be part of any comprehensive school planning discussion. The school board members have done us a service by opening the door to a community wide discussion on the best ways we can keep cost under control.
We are fortunate to have inherited a fine school system in our town. For decades many Georgia school directors have made hard choices that balance the desire to provide the best education for our children with what local taxpayers can afford. On the issue of designation of a high school however, Georgia voters have been clear in the past that they value choice over any of the alternatives.
The change in state education law made last session was not intended to be any kind of encouragement for communities to make the decision to designate a school. It simply added public schools to the list of allowable institutions for districts that do not have schools of their own. Formerly, the list included only private and independent schools. Now, public schools like BFA Fairfax are allowed too. This change was intended to give more choice to school districts and left the final decision making power with the voters, where it has always been.
Now, should Georgia designate a high school for our high schoolers? Will such a change really save enough to make it worthwhile? Will parents have more or less control over the course of studies? What about the board's involvement? What about the students? Will such a change help or hinder efforts begun locally to insure each child from our town gets a world class education that will allow him/her to compete with students from across the globe? These are all questions that remain to be answered before a final decision is made.
There are other ways to cut costs. Among them are: exiting from the Supervisory Union and assigning necessary administrative tasks to local administrators; changing energy sources to renewables; making better use of virtual schooling and opening the school building to year round classes.
One thing is clear to me. Georgia has currently the very thing that many districts in the state would like to have. In Georgia we educate our grade school children locally and then allow families to choose a high school that best fits the needs of their child. This is school choice at its best and I have seen it work well for hundreds of Georgia families.
Representative Carolyn Branagan Vermont House of Representatives